Jm. Wakiaga et al., REASONS UNDERLYING FAILURE TO SEEK DENTAL TREATMENT AMONG NAIROBI UNIVERSITY-STUDENTS, East African medical journal, 73(5), 1996, pp. 320-322
A survey of 272 University of Nairobi undergraduate students was under
taken to assess their dental chairside experience and what reasons the
y gave for failing to seek dental treatment. Most respondents consider
ed dental treatment uncomfortable and painful. The cost of treatment a
nd fear arising from information given by other dental patients were i
mportant reasons that kept the respondents from visiting a dental clin
ic. This paper reveals the need for the dental profession to play a gr
eater role in reducing costs of treatment and odontophobia.